The Maiden And The Unicorn, Domenico Zampieri
“I was interested by the piece on youth development by Chris Green in The Observer Sports Monthly (link not available online). I think he makes some very telling points – the way football clubs treat children in England and Scotland is absolutely abominable. I’ve blogged about this before but not in the depth that Green covers (and I intend to buy his book at some point).He makes, like I have, the point that the Dutch system is probably preferable to the one we have. Voices in the English and Scottish games (including David Ferguson in The Scotsman a few weeks ago) will often denounce this by saying that the Dutch system couldn’t be replicated for any number of reasons.” (Left Back In The Changing Room)

“I’ve always had a certain amount of time for Craig Bellamy. On the sports field, I had an ego, a short fuse, a red mist and a strong tendency towards violence. That was twenty years ago and I’m too old for team sports now. I still have a temper on me at times, but I can appreciate how different someone can before and after the whistle goes.” (James Hamilton)

“The BBC’s text service Ceefax celebrates its thirty-fifth birthday today, but it’s a celebration that is tinged with sadness as it is to be the last significant anniversary celebrated by the antiquated service, which is to be phased out in line with the stopping of the analogue television signal in Britain in 2012. Ceefax holds a special place in the affections of football supporters of a certain age. Who amongst us hasn’t spent at least one Saturday afternoon feverishly hitting the buttons on the remote control trying to find out the score?” (twohundredpercent), (BBC)

“With political chaos continuing in Honduras, the possibility exists that the United States’ crucial World Cup qualifying match, scheduled there on Oct. 10, will be moved to another country. Honduras’s ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, has furtively returned to Tegucigalpa, the capital, and entered the Brazilian Embassy. The crisis has led to the closing of all Honduran airports, a curfew and roadblocks. The only way into the country is by land through El Salvador.” (NYT)

” Football was never a ticket to fabulous wealth in Zimbabwe, at least not for players who stayed in the country. But the economic situation has made it ever harder to play simply for the pride and pleasure of pulling on local team colours. Before the economic downturn in the late 1990s, the simple pride of appearing for the local team inspired many young Zimbabwean footballers, who were not necessarily choosing soccer as a career to earn a living.” (IPS News)

“I must admit, Nigerian legend Jay-Jay Okocha was one of my favorite players of all-time to watch when he was in his prime. He was tricky, skilled, entertaining, and most importantly, good. I’m really surprised he never won African Footballer of the Year in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. I stumbled upon these youtube videos this morning of Okocha explaining how he pulled off some of his signature tricks and moves in a training session.” (The Best Eleven)